Apps are big business. As a translator, I know how you can save a lot of money when developing an app for more than one language market. Let me tell you how!

What is an app?

These days, everyone uses apps. An "app" is an application, or program, that is downloaded onto your tablet, smartphone, or other device, and even desktop PCs. The over 2 million apps available today are used for virtually anything: to plan travel routes by private or public transportation; to play games; for dating; etc. The downloading and use of an app is usually free, but often a small fee is charged to make the app ad free or to buy additional content (for instance, more levels in a game or a higher message limit on a dating app).

Are apps worth the investment?

Research by comScore.com shows that most of the "app time" is spent on games. The research also shows that app sales increased from $35 billion in 2014 to $58 billion in 2016, and the forecast for 2017 is $77 billion. As a company, it can certainly be profitable to design and produce an app.

An app for everyone, or perhaps not

In the Netherlands, tablets and smartphones are widespread (Dutch link): 67% of the Dutch own a tablet and 83% a smartphone. Therefore, if you want your app to have a broad target audience, make sure your app is clearly designed, and easy to use for people of all ages, education levels and backgrounds. Be especially careful with your use of language and text, as research shows that a poor translation or spelling/grammar errors give an untrustworthy impression and this can cost you money.

Of course, some apps have limited user groups. For instance, when an app about the human body is created for students of medicine, it may need to contain difficult Latin terms. But if the goal of the app is to give first aid tips to a broader, public audience, then of course those ‘difficult’ terms would not be included.

An international app

Your English-language app will reach more people if you have it translated into other languages. The best and most cost-effective to manage this, is to decide BEFORE the development of the app, if you want your app to be available in multiple languages. For example: it is great to develop a button that is both aesthetically pleasing and exactly wide enough to hold the word “CANCEL,” but you will cause your Danish translator the headache of trying to fit “ANNULLERE” on that same button. Naturally, the more languages into which you translate your app, the harder it will be for all languages to appear attractive and intuitive. But a bit of advance planning goes a long way.

If you are ready to have your app translated for the Dutch market, just send me an email and we'll make your app go global!

What is happening...

I blog about anything related to translation, translating, translators, but also about being an entrepreneur, my specializations, learning languages (notably Romanian), books I read, and probably other things as well! The blog will be updated irregularly. Stay tuned...